U.S.: American Airlines got $425M for landing rights

DALLAS — American Airlines is getting more than $425 million from selling takeoff and landing slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport and Reagan National Airport outside Washington.

That price was disclosed Monday in comments filed in federal court in Washington by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The department says the value of those slots shows that it drove a hard bargain last year when it settled its antitrust lawsuit against the merger of Fort Worth, Texas-based American and US Airways. The airlines agreed to give up slots at LaGuardia and Reagan and gates at five other big airports.

The Justice Department filed its response to public comments on the settlement. Consumer groups, lawmakers, Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Delta Air Lines lodged complaints about the settlement.